


Bonds Unbroken

by Mochas N Mayhem (KoohiiCafe)



Series: Bound in Story [15]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek, Star Trek: The Original Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-14
Updated: 2015-08-14
Packaged: 2018-04-14 15:57:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4570563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KoohiiCafe/pseuds/Mochas%20N%20Mayhem
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She didn't recognize the man, had never seen him before, and yet she nonetheless knew immediately who he was; he wore a blue tunic with a black collar, a gold insignia on his breast, and the tips of his ears swept upward gracefully.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bonds Unbroken

**Author's Note:**

> **Title:** Bonds Unbroken  
>  **Author:** Koohii Cafe  
>  **Rating:** General Audiences  
>  **Crossover:** BtVS/Star Trek: The Original Series  
>  **Disclaimer:** Since I am a poor chickadee with no wealth to speak of, I think it's safe to say that neither BtVS nor Star Trek: The Original Series are mine. ^^;  
>  **Written for:** [TtH](http://www.tthfanfic.org/) [August Fic A Day Challenge](http://forum.tthfanfic.org/index.php?topic=9537.0)  
>  **Summary:** _She didn't recognize the man, had never seen him before, and yet she nonetheless knew immediately who he was; he wore a blue tunic with a black collar, a gold insignia on his breast, and the tips of his ears swept upward gracefully._  
>  **Author's notes:** Part of my '[Bound in Story](http://archiveofourown.org/series/301023)' series. Set during the novel 'The Lost Years.' This story will make a lot more sense if you've read it.

"Magic isn't real." The words were soft, spoken without looking up as Tara dealt out the tarot cards, and Buffy's brows drew together in confusion. Of all the people she might have thought would disavow magic, Tara was the _last_.

"Tara-"

"She's right. There's no such thing as magic, only science."

Buffy's head jerked up, away from the cards being laid on the table in front of her, to look at Willow, and her confusion cemented, deepened.

"How can you say that? Willow, the things you've done with magic- the things _both_ of you have done-"

"'A- any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from m- magic.'" The words were a quote, still in that soft-spoken voice, her head still turned down as the last card was laid, her focus clear. Then she reached, for the second to last card, and turned it over first.

"The Magician, upside down," Willow commented, her head tilting. She moved to the table, beside Tara, to look down at the card. "Ill-dignified. Huh. That's not good."

Buffy arched an eyebrow. "But you just said that magic isn't real. If magic isn't real, then how can that card mean anything?"

"It might," Tara answered, turning over the card before the Magician, "or it might not."

The picture on the card need no explanation; a figure in a black robe, hood pulled up, with a scythe in hand. For a moment the scythe on the card changed, flashing red, the scythe she'd pulled from the rock, the one that was back in her own dimension with Faith, and then it was simple and silver again, just a printed picture on a card.

"Death is her gift."

The words came from behind her, in a voice she didn't recognize, and Buffy turned, and the world was red, _hot_ suddenly, searing heat blowing over her in a dry wind that carried grains of red sand. She didn't recognize the man who stood there, had never seen him before, and yet she nonetheless knew immediately who he was; he wore a blue tunic with a black collar, a gold insignia on his breast, and the tips of his ears swept upward gracefully. The tunic flickered, black with long hanging sleeves, and then back, and Buffy shook her head.

" _No_. Death is _my_ gift, no one else's, and I've already given it."

"It is not for you or I to decide if she will give her gift," Spock answered, his tone matter of fact. He looked not at her, but out over the desert that stretched below the stone precipice where they stood, and she stepped up beside him, her hair swirling around her with the wind. She pushed it back with one hand, behind an ear, and turned her eyes up to him. "It is hers to do with as she pleases. I am sure she will make the logical choice."

"Why are you telling me this?"

He turned to face her fully, focusing his full gaze on her, and the force of it stole her breath away. When he spoke again, there was something like mourning, grief, in his voice.

"You cannot change what is to come. Your place is not in the stars, not yet. You must follow the path you have chosen, and let fate run its course. He will need you."

" _No_." Her voice was firmer this time, steel, and despite the force of his gaze, she stepped forward, her head tilting back further to lock eyes with him. "You can't tell me this- you can't tell me _death_ is coming, and expect me to just- to just stand by helplessly, without trying to do something about it."

"I can, and you must. The future depends on it."

"You're not the slayer here." Behind her, Giles' voice, and her breath stole away for a moment. She turned, the Vulcan forgotten, and they were in the library, the old stacks behind their research table familiar, and there he stood, at the door to his office. He pulled his glasses off, and the familiar motion made her heart sick, his head dipping as he cleaned them. When he looked at her again, placing them on once more, his eyes met hers, and her heart leaped in her throat. "This world doesn't- doesn't _need_ a slayer, Buffy. You're not the leader, not anymore. It's time for you to step back and find your place."

"I _am_ , Giles. I'm trying. I- I have friends, people who care about me here, and I applied to Starfleet Academy. But that doesn't mean I-"

"You _must_." The words were fervent, the deep voice no longer calm as it had been before, and when she turned the library was gone. In its place, she stood in a circular room, all cool silver metal, screens and controls lining it. There was a large screen at one end, a door at the other, and in the middle-

Jim sat in the middle, settled in a large, blocky chair, and something about it just felt _right_. He wore a gold tunic, like the blue one Spock wore where he stood beside him, and behind them both, Leonard leaned casually in a blue tunic of his own. The humans were both frozen in time, warm smiles, laughter in their eyes; it was Spock alone who looked to her, who stepped away from them to address her once more.

"The bonds will fray, but they will not be broken. All will come to pass as it must. You cannot interfere, or our future will be lost." He paused, silent for a moment, and she could see the struggle that came with the next words he spoke; " _Jim's_ future will be lost."

 _That_ \- that was enough to get her attention. Her eyes moved, behind the towering Vulcan, to where Jim sat with Leonard. She stepped around Spock, towards them both, and he turned to follow, returning to his own position. Buffy started to reach out, to touch Jim, and then stopped herself, not wanting to break whatever spell held him in this moment of joy. Instead, she looked up to Spock, asking softly;

"He lost this, didn't he? All of you did." Because she knew where they were now. This was the _Enterprise_ , Jim's ship. The one he had given up to become an admiral. Spock nodded, gravely.

"We did. But we will have it again, in time, so long as you do not interfere."

Buffy stepped back, then, and there was understanding finally. Acceptance. This wasn't her place- not now. Not yet. Maybe in time, but not now. Instead of arguing further, she answered in a quiet tone. "Then I won't."

She couldn't, not if it meant stealing this away from Jim forever. 

When Spock met her eyes again, there was some emotion behind them that she couldn't read, and he said; "Thank you." There was a pause, a silence, before he added; "We shall meet one day, Buffy Summers. When the time comes. Until then, I bid you to live long, and prosper."

The _Enterprise_ faded, blackness overtaking her slowly, and the last thing she saw before she woke suddenly in her own bed was the three of them in the center of the blackness, softly glowing silver threads stretched between them, tying them together.


End file.
